Respect for animals is shaping global markets, say researchers

Animal-awareness was listed among the top 10 global consumer trends for 2019 in a report by independent market researchers Euromonitor International. Compiled using data from industry, global consumer surveys, expert polls and trade interviews, the document annually reviews fast-moving trends, changing consumer priorities and how shifting consumer behaviour is disrupting business. For 2019 it describes … Continue reading Respect for animals is shaping global markets, say researchers

New technology can bring transparency to global food chains, but collaboration will be key

Global supply chains bring UK consumers a variety of food that would have dazzled our grandparents. Particularly in big cities, you can now buy pretty much whatever ingredient you need, whether or not it's ever been produced in the British Isles, and regardless of the time of year. But these same increasingly complex supply chains … Continue reading New technology can bring transparency to global food chains, but collaboration will be key

Has the ‘sweatshop’ returned to the UK fashion industry?

The apparel industry has dominated Leicester since the 19th century; its thriving city factories once claimed to ‘clothe the world’. Poor conditions faced by framework knitters were highlighted by a Royal Commission of 1844, but legislation improving work hours and introducing paid holidays, pensions etc. slowly improved the garment-worker's lot. By 1936 it was the … Continue reading Has the ‘sweatshop’ returned to the UK fashion industry?